Preparations for euro-day still patchy

Date: 29/10/1998

IN THE countdown to the 1 January 1999 launch of economic and monetary union the challenges facing industry are ones of cost, manpower and bureaucracy as well as technology, systems and new product development.

Reactions range from a fear of yet more bureaucracy, added costs and a denial of the inevitable to positively welcoming a challenge which brings with it a real opportunity to expand into new markets.

While some firms have been preparing for euro-day for the past few years, others have delayed taking action. The fragility of the world economy and competing technological issues such as the Millennium Bug have meant that budgets and manpower are being used elsewhere.

Howard Oyns, operations manager for IBM's European initiative, sees the challenge as not just one of technology, which he says is actually not that difficult, but a recognition that EMU is not just a new symbol on a keyboard but also means a major change in the way industry operates.

The task for businesses, he says, is to use the period between January next year and the introduction of notes and coins in 2002 to assess the impact of EMU on their business needs and then to put any necessary changes into place.

Dominic Bichut, single currency programme coordinator for credit card service company Europay, says one of the major problems in her field is understanding the complex regulations governing the change-over from national currencies to euro.

She adds that persuading customers that EMU presents a business opportunity which will offset the costs involved in 'migrating' to the euro is one of the major tests ahead.

However, as Oyns says, although some firms are not doing all they might in terms of preparation, they will soon have no choice. Competition will at some point force their hand.